No better track to play on Sept 21st than this one. This is the song that launched a million wedding dance floors. It’s universally loved. 8 years old or 80 years old, Single or married, Everyone can appreciate it. As far as disco falsetto vocals and horn arrangements go, it doesn’t get much better. The Moment “September” plays, you just celebrate with it.
“Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changing the minds of pretenders.”
A simple acoustic guitar strum sets off one of the greatest mid-tempo Tracks of the 80’s. ThE iconic intro is later joined one by one by vocals, drums. bass, electric guitar, keys and eventually the Synclavier masquerading as bag pipes. “Under the Milky Way” builds up and doesn’t let down. A majestic, multi-layered masterpiece, like the galaxy itself.
“Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty. Sound of their breath fades with the light. I think about the loveless fascination under the Milky Way tonight.”
I first heard “Fade Into You” on Boston’s WFNX. It was a welcome departure for me from Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It meant that I could simply bask in a melody, instead of get thrown up and down and around by it. Listening to a Mazzy Star album was like stepping inside an atmopsheric bubble. And that bubble never popped whenever “Fade Into You” was playing.
This is one of rock’s legendary pioneers. Without Chuck Berry, who knows where we’d be. You can’t go wrong with any of his songs playing on your mental jukebox, but today I’ll go with “Rock and Roll Music”. A simple, melodic hook. Eruptive electric guitar playing. Berry’s signature rhyme delivery. And a heavy dose of old time rock and roll nostalgia.
“Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music. Any old way you choose it. It's got a back beat, you can't lose it. Any old time you use it. It's gotta be rock and roll music. If you want to dance with me.”
When I first heard “Song for Zula” playing over the speakers at a Jose Gonzalez show, I thought it was gorgeous. With the melodic cadence of Bette Midler’s “The Rose”, but much more atmospheric and expansive. But when I heard it again later, I had time to examine the lyrics and realized this wasn’t a typical love song. It’s a song written by someone who’s been burned. “Song for Zula”, in its quiet introspection, is one of the best ballads of the 21st century.
“You see the moon is bright in that treetop night. I see the shadows that we cast in the cold clean light.”
I’ve seen Suzanne Vega twice. Once while she was signing autographs at the old Tower Records near NYU and another time just a few blocks away while she was performing at Joe’s Pub. I was less than 10 feet away from her and She was pErforming “Left of Center”, over 30 years after she wrote it. Musically it sounded the same, but somehow it felt wiser. It has AgEd well in the live setting. Another sign of a great song.
“If you want me, you can find me left of center. Off of the strip. In the outskirts. In the fringes. In the corner. Out of the grip.”
On the surface, “Sultans of Swing” is just another catchy, well-known pop song. But the genius of it is revealed when you listen more carefully to the combination of great songwriting and great guitar playing. What Knopfler did no one else was doing at the time. He took Dylan-esque vocals and paired it with ambitious, yet understated guitar riffs, melding rock, blues, country and even flamenco so effortlessly together.
“You get a shiver in the dark. It's a raining in the park but meantime-south of the river you stop and you hold everything. A band is blowing Dixie, double four time. You feel alright when you hear the music ring.”
This is the song that launched The Shins into orbit. But even more significantly, it’s the song that set the new standard for movie soundtracks. Garden State wouldn’t be the same without “Caring is Creepy” and “New Slang”. What made it so significant? I think it’s the perfect Blend of three things: the unIque melody, James Mercer’s UNUSUALLY high tenor voice and the echo-heavy effects. theSe things just seemed to align perfectly on one of the greatest soundtrackS eveR.
“I think I'll go home and mull this over before I cram it down my throat. At long last it's crashed, its colossal mass has broken up into bits in my moat.”
Pretty much everything the Beastie Boys ever produced sounds like the stuff you would record with your buddies inside a garage. The kind of music you make for fun, not for FAME or money. That’s what makes songs like “Sabotage” that much more awesome. while these guys were just having fun, they were reinventing music. “Sabotage” unleashes a barrage of drums, turntable scratches and distorted bass riffs like we’ve never heard before.
“I can't stand it, I know you planned it. I'mma set it straight, this Watergate. I can't stand rockin' when I'm in here. 'Cause your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear.”
Listening to Mirror Moves so many years later, it sounds to me like a near-perfect musical interpretation of the times. The baritone delivery of Richard Butler is one of the period’s most ownable voices. And “The Ghost in You” was one of the album’s best. While “Pretty in Pink” got all the soundtrack glory, this minor hit, in many ways, captures the essence of the Brat Pack 80’s era better than any other Psychedelic Furs song.
“A man in my shoes runs a light. And all the papers lied tonight.”
This was a song that was impossible not to tap your foot to underneath your office desk. In 2015, “Ex’s and Oh’s” came in fast and furious. New artist. New voice. New sound. Elle King crossed country with alternative, blues with rock, the literal with the figurative. It was a new, clever take on old lovers. It was infectious in its lyrics and its attitude. And it’s a song that flipped gender roles on its head.
“I get high, and I love to get low. So the hearts keep breaking, and the heads just roll. You know that's how the story goes.”
Toys in the Attic was Aerosmith firing on all cylinders. Taking all their live success and translating it to the recording studio. There’s an air of confidence that comes with it and you can hear it on “Sweet Emotion”. It’s subtle in its iconic vocal harmonizing, explosive with its dueling guitars and experimental in sound and composition from beginning to end.
“You talk about things that nobody cares. Wearing out things that nobody wears. You're calling my name but I gotta make clear. I can't say, baby, where I'll be in a year.”
A good friend of mine in college saw the beauty in this song and made it her own for our a cappella group. “Fields of Joy” is both beautiful and powerful. It’s another album opener that could’ve been a closer. It’s brash. It’s ambitious. It’s ridiculously underrated. And it shows off every talented side to Lenny Kravitz—from towering falsetto vocals to screaming guitar solos and everything in between.
“The sound of music that we hear. The blend of colors in the air. All cities, mountains disappear from view. All truth and beauty near to me and you. With you through the fields.”
Much like Kate Bush, The Chameleons were a musical harbinger. Paving the way for sounds that would become more popularized decades later. Important bands like Interpol and The Editors may not have ever surfaced if we didn’t have The Chameleons laying down the post-punk foundation in the 80’s. “Second Skin” is a foreshadowing of the grating guitar style of Daniel Kessler and the ominous vocal delivery of Paul Banks and Tom Smith.
“One cold damp evening the world stood still. I watched as I held my breath a silhouette I thought I knew.”
My wife and I included this one on our wedding playlist. Why? “Let’s Stay Together” is still one of the simplest, most honest expressions in music. It’s one of the most well-written, well-sung, well-crafted and well-arranged songs ever recorded. And Green was only 25 years old when he came up with it. The plea to stay together still rings true—from wedding receptions to Quentin Tarantino movie soundtracks.
“Let's, let's stay together. Lovin' you whether, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad.”
Fleet Foxes’ refusal to go along with the crowd is what helped them earn acclaim in the 21st century. “Mykonos” is the epitome of this. It sounds nothing like the dance music scene in Mykonos, nor are the lyrics even about the famed Greek Island. It’s a tale of two halves. The first half reels you in with the melody. The second half hooks you in with CSNY-style harmonies as good as CSNY.
“And you will go to Mykonos with a vision of a gentle coast. And a sun to maybe dissipate shadows of the mess you made.”
After my junior year in college, I decided to stay in Boston for the summer. One of my roommates also stayed in town, and then we found two new roommates for the summer. One of them became a pretty decent friend of ours and hung out with us throughout the summer. Years later, I found out that she died of cancer. I still remember the summer of ‘94 pretty vividly. And August and Everything After was our friend’s favorite album. I could tell by the way she sang along to those songs that the music was giving her life.
“My friend assures me, ‘It's all or nothing.’ I am not worried. I am not overly concerned.”
In the summer of 2005, French duo Daft Punk gave this sly gift to the music world. “Technologic” is an ingenious commentary on the mindless progression of the digital age. Albeit a catchy one. The cleverness of the track is this. In its own mind-numbing way, it forces us to stop and ask ourselves this question: do we own the technology, or does the technology own us?
“Buy it, use it, break it, fix it. Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it. Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it. Snap it, work it, quick, erase it.”
The godfather of grunge was often at his best with the slow, acoustic stuff. In other words, the stuff that sounds nothing like the early strands of grunge. Simple acoustic strumming. Some of Neil Young’s most memorable lyrics. And his signature harmonica. Proof that sometimes the simplest of songs are often the best.
The ruthless explosion at the :17 mark sets the tone for the duration of “She Sells Sanctuary”. This was a huge alt rock fave in the mid 80’s, and for good reason. It was 80’s narcissism from beginning to end—in both musical and lyrical form. The Cult brought a distinct howling guitar sound paired with an equally howling vocal delivery from Ian Astbury. For a time when synthesizers were taking over, The Cult went in the other direction and straight up rocked.
